Eurostar
Those affected have criticized a “disgusting” lack of communication, while others were forced to pay £1,000 to travel the next day
Sunday 31 December 2023 2.52pm GMT
What promised to be a romantic New Year's Eve in Paris ended in tears and travel trauma for Sean Winterbottom and his partner Amy. The couple were among around 30,000 passengers whose Eurostar journey was canceled on Saturday due to a flooded tunnel under the Thames.
“We wanted to do a flash dinner and…we had bookings, hotel reservations and everything,” Sean said of the trip they had been looking forward to for months.
They were booked from St Pancras at 9.31am but when they arrived at the station at around 8am they realized there was a problem.
“The whole place was full of people and you could feel something was wrong,” Sean said. “Then the trains were canceled one by one until they were all canceled.
“It was chaos and really stressful. “Amy cried.”
The couple had to abandon their Paris plans and console themselves with a bottle of champagne from Sainsbury's.
Extreme flooding in the Eurostar tunnel brings trains to a standstill – video
Sean, who is from Auckland in New Zealand, added: “What can you do? It is a classic English holiday. The weather got in the way.”
On Sunday he returned to St Pancras to see off his daughter Isabella, whose train was on time. “Yesterday it was so busy with passengers in distress that she wanted me to be here to assist,” he said.
Andrew and Fiona Eyre, both 52, from Sheffield, had been looking forward to their trip to Paris since booking it in September, but their train was also cancelled. “It was absolute chaos and the lack of communication was just disgusting,” Andrew said.
“It was obvious nothing was moving, but they didn't tell us anything. Our 10:31 a.m. train wasn't officially canceled until 4 p.m. The system just couldn't handle it and there was no explanation. They just kept saying it was “infrastructure.” It was only from the news that we found out there was a flood.”
Fiona said: “There was a couple with three children next to us and I really felt bad for the families. It was terrible, you couldn’t move people in here.”
After spending a night in a hotel in London, the Eyres managed to book a 1.30pm train on Sunday that was scheduled to leave on time. Andrew said: “We were fearing the worst this morning and thinking about where we would go for a takeaway at home, but it looks like they are on time now.
'Not what I imagined': Eurostar cancellations leave thousands stranded
“The cost of the rebooked tickets was ridiculous and the hotel we booked in Paris last night wasn’t cheap.”
Natalie and Anne-Mie and their two teenage daughters were trying to return to their home in Ghent, Belgium, after a sightseeing trip to London.
They were originally booked on a 9am train to Brussels on Saturday. When that was cancelled, they rebooked on a 3pm train, which was also cancelled. Due to commitments in Ghent they had to pay an extra £1,000 for business class tickets for a punctual 1.30pm departure on Sunday.
Natalie, a nurse at a hospital in the city, said: “We decided to pay the extra because we had a family dinner tonight.” Anne-Mie, an anesthetist at the same hospital, added: “And I have to work tomorrow .”
Natalie said: “Luckily we can afford to pay extra, but as our youngest daughter said: 'What about poor people who can't afford an extra £1,000 just to get home?'
“It was very stressful but we tried to make the best of it and spend another night in London.”
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